December 2023: The UCI Engineering+ Equation

December 2023

Message from Dean Egerstedt

As we look back at 2023, it has been a remarkable year here in the Samueli School of Engineering. The focus on our students’ successes and on research discoveries that positively impact the world around us has paid off in major ways. Highlights (some of which are covered in this issue of the newsletter) include the establishment of a massive hydrogen hub; record-breaking philanthropic fundraising, including a recent $5 million gift to help boost diversity in STEM; several new, prestigious awards for our faculty, including for our impressive junior faculty; cool student projects, such as our two OC Sustainability Decathlon teams and the UCI Rocket Club’s successful launch of their liquid-fueled rocket; and the rollout of our new strategic plan.

I wish you all a wonderful (and, who knows, maybe even restful?) holiday season. I hope you get to spend it surrounded by your favorite people. Onward to 2024!

Best,

Magnus Egerstedt, Ph.D.

Stacey Nicholas Dean of Engineering

Stacey Nicholas donates $5 million to UC Irvine to further boost diversity in STEM

The gift will endow and rename an engineering program that supports the recruitment, retention and graduation of students to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math.

Edwards Lifesciences Foundation supports new program focused on equitable innovations

The foundation has awarded $100,000 to the UCI Samueli School of Engineering to develop a pilot program on educating biomedical engineering students about how systemic racism contributes to health inequities.

California to build $12 billion clean hydrogen hub

The White House recently announced it will award $1.2 billion toward the plan. That figure is only part of a $12 billion hydrogen hub led by the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES), a public-private partnership, which includes the University of California.

UC Irvine-led team of researchers uncovers battery-like functions of mitochondria

Using new super-resolution microscopes, researchers at UCI and the University of Pennsylvania have for the first time observed electrical charge and discharge functions inside mitochondria isolated from cells.

NSF funds project to improve climate science learning in high schools

The National Science Foundation has awarded an interdisciplinary team from UC Irvine a three-year, $1.6 million grant focused on creating an accessible and equity-centered model for high school environmental engineering education intended to inspire and properly prepare students for careers in this field.

OAI summer programs empower future engineers

During the summer and fall, the Stacey Nicholas Office of Outreach, Access & Inclusion (OAI) in the Samueli School of Engineering offers numerous outreach and inreach programs and opportunities to an increasing number of prospective and incoming students, many of whom are underrepresented in STEM fields.

Samueli School of Engineering | (949) 824-4333 | Email | Website